Team Pacquiao preparing for Bradley surprise

Manny Pacquiao works the mitts with trainer Freddie Roach inside the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, California on Saturday afternoon. Pacquiao and Bradley will be fighting for the third time on April 9 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.     PHOTO BY REM ZAMORA

Manny Pacquiao works the mitts with trainer Freddie Roach inside the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, California on Saturday afternoon. Pacquiao and Bradley will be fighting for the third time on April 9 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. PHOTO BY REM ZAMORA

HOLLYWOOD—Manny Pacquiao’s camp is on the lookout for punches from Timothy Bradley that could catch the Filipino boxing icon unaware.

“We’re focusing on Bradley’s shots he might use to surprise us,” assistant trainer Buboy Fernandez told INQUIRER.net in Filipino Saturday morning at Pan Pacific Park here.

The team is studying every possible angle Bradley may throw a punch from to make sure the eight-division champion will be ready to anticipate them. Bradley has said he is revamping his style as he readies to face Pacquiao for the third time in an April 9 welterweight duel at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

“What’s important is we’re prepared. We don’t know what kind of fight Bradley will show us,” Fernandez added. “I hope he doesn’t run a lot so they can give us a good fight.”

For his part, Pacquiao is anticipating an action-packed third showdown against Bradley, who is under the wing of new trainer Teddy Atlas.

And Pacquiao, who wrapped up a fruitful afternoon training at Wild Card gym here with a few rounds of sparring, mitts and heavy bag sessions, actually likes it that way.

“This fight will probably have more action because he has a new trainer,” said Pacquiao. “I’m sure he’s not going to run that much. He’s going to keep on coming in. [I like that] because there’s more action.”

With Pacquiao at a hundred percent with their fight strategy all ironed out, Fernandez said they are now just making sure that the prized fighter is not sidelined by other little things like catching a cold.

“We’ve developed everything. We’ve worked out all the problems in defense and footwork,” Fernandez said. “We’re just taking care of his health since the weather here keeps on changing; we don’t want him to have a cold.”

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